First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (2017)

Angelina Jolie and Cambodia go way back to her days as Lara Croft. And since then, she has had a fascination with the country, adopting a Cambodian child and eventually being granted citizenship. This genuine connection with the country facilitated the production of a sincere film. Genocide is not an easy topic to cover. But she takes great care in crafting a tasteful film to aid in the country's ongoing healing process. Jolie should be commended for supporting Cambodia, hiring local cast and crew, and sharing their stories with a wider audience in Khmer.

The cast is largely made up of first-time actors, including 9-year-old Sreymoch Sareum. She is phenomenal for someone so young playing such a harrowing role. She shows real commitment, intensity and emotion. The movie is from her point of view. She is an innocent child, confused and unaware at first about what is happening around her. It is disorienting, dream-like. Jolie does not hold our hands--the audience is not omniscient, we know as much as our hero does. My main criticism is that there are some major gaps in the timeline. Obviously, this is not a minute by minute account of Loung Ung's experience during the Khmer Rouge regime. But beginning in the mine field scene, time seems to move along much faster without much explanation as to how we get from point A to point B. There are some really key points that I think audiences would be interested to know.

Rithy Panh serves as producer on the film. He is arguably Cambodia's most famous director. I wrote a paper on his film The Missing Picture a few years ago. He is a critical figure in Cambodia's reckoning with its past. In the face of such atrocities, communities need a way to heal. Confronting the pain through film, or through tribunals, is effective. Hopefully, Jolie's film will help too. 

Unbroken (2014)

Louis Zamperini had quite an incredible life. There are three phases in the movie that represent very different parts of his life. And it doesn't even get into his PTSD after returning home. The first phase plays out like a typical sports movie. It follows a young boy who goes into sport as a means to keep himself out of trouble and he runs all the way to the Olympics. The second phase is a lot like All Is Lost with talking. And the third phase is pure war from inside a POW camp. I think the movie tried to squeeze in a little too much. I feel like I would've gotten the same story without the track story line.

Miyavi plays the Japanese corporal in charge of the POW camp. He is devilishly cruel and has a look that inspires fear. There is a scene in which he implores Zamperini  to "Look at me!" and I couldn't help but think of Captain Phillips. The aerial fighting scene in the beginning is well done and it provides a good introduction to the war half of the story. 

Maleficent (2014)

This movie is part origin story, part retelling of Sleeping Beauty, part altering the original story.  The movie attempts to Wicked-fy Maleficent, remaking the traditional villain into a morally ambiguous character.  However, whereas Wicked does not mess with the original source material, Maleficent takes lots of liberties in modifying the plot line of the classic Disney movie.

The movie has a really great look with a nice combination of CGI and practical effects.  This takes place in a dark, angular, and thorny fairy tale world.  Angelina Jolie is transformed into the iconic dark fairy with the aid of some intense makeup and a stylish pair of horns.  She has the presence of an ominous giant, filling the room or the forest.  She is so entertaining to watch because at times she can scare you and yet there are other times in which she shows vulnerability, a side of Maleficent we are not used to seeing.  Lastly, Lana del Rey's haunting rendition of Once Upon a Dream sends chills down the spine--a perfect arrangement for a powerful singer.